Complete-Pdf-Hopwas-Booklet.Pdf
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2011 This booklet was created for ‘The Hopwas Woods Exhibition’ (2011) curated by the artist Gwyddion Flint and displayed at Tamworth’s Town Hall at the time of the Staffordshire Hoard’s display at Tamworth Castle. The exhibition is part of a wider project that will culminate in a semi-historical novel by Gwyddion. The printing of the booklet has been funded by Staffordshire County Council, as has other elements of the exhibition. “A great opportunity to raise the profile of the natural beauty that surrounds the town of Tamworth and the village of Hopwas– incorporating stories, history, and myths of the area, as well as artworks inspired by the landscape and its wildlife.” The exhibition contains various artefacts found in and around the woodland that have been creating a stir in local newspapers recently. Such as a ‘mysterious’ copper plate found by the West Midlands Ghost Club, and an Egyptian statuette which is alleged to have belonged to Rev. William McGregor. Those involved in the Hopwas Project hope this exhibition will be a counterbalance to the national interest in the Staffordshire Hoard by incorporating into the event elements that reflect the beauty of the local area itself. Hopwas: Beneath the Surface By Gwyddion Flint (Artist) www.Minstral.wordpress.com [email protected] I’ve lived in Tamworth for most of my life but it wasn’t until recently, having decided to leave, that I really began to appreciate its history and its stories. During the summers when I was young I used to travel from one side of Tamworth to the other, and then follow the Lichfield road all the way up the hill to Hopwas Hayes Wood. For a ten year old boy that’s quite a journey. After spending most of the day in the woods, I would return home exhausted but happy. Of course, I would be covered in mud with my trousers soaked by river, canal, pond or rain water and the immediate reward for this decorative state would be a clip round the ear. But showered, scrubbed, and drying off wrapped in a towel in the warm, it felt decidedly worth the punishment. However, it wasn’t until I enrolled at Staffordshire University that I started thinking about Hopwas Woods for the first time since those childhood visits. A friend of mine there thought he recognised the name of Hopwas Woods when I mentioned it during a conversation about camping. He was a keen collector of science-fiction and horror paraphernalia and he pulled from his shelf a couple of pulp-fiction novels that had been written in the 70’s. One of these was titled ‘The Sucking Pit’ written by Guy N. Smith. I had a quick flick through and realised that the setting of the novel was indeed Hopwas Woods; my friend couldn’t believe the place really existed. Hopwas Woods seems to have the somewhat uncanny ability to draw you in: to tickle under the skin like an obsession. I started to revisit my childhood haunts, and to gather tales and stories about the woods. I spent a few nights there camping, re-imagining the childhood exotic rainforest through adult eyes. I began to find out as much about the Wood as I could and this research lead me to discover many strange things about both Hopwas itself, and indeed the Tamworth area. I talked to local residents, read old newspapers at the library, contacted other researchers via the net, and documented my visits to the woods with photographs. My search has brought me into contact with some interesting people along the way, not least Guy N. Smith himself, and the archaeologist Mark Lorenzor : both of whom have contributed articles to this booklet. It was my obsession that resulted in this exhibition at Tamworth Town Hall: a site of historical value in itself. For this exhibition I have brought together some of those stories, histories and artworks to show that what could be seen as a group of trees by the side of the road, or an impediment to future road building, is in fact a site rich in factual history and intriguing mythology. The Saxon Hoard may be the more famous discovery of Staffordshire, but Hopwas was once the Hunting Ground of Kings and more is to be found buried under the trees than people are aware. If you dig just below the surface you will find all manner of stories, and not just about Saxon hoards of gold: occultists have danced naked in these woods, bumbling highway men have lived and died, secret tunnels dug, strange esoteric and Egyptian artefacts found buried beneath the soil, and a creaking grove became the resting place of royalists left to swing by their necks. In the case of Egyptian connections, the Tamworth philanthropist Rev. William Macgregor, a renowned collector of Egyptiana, buried three mummies from his collection in different areas of Tamworth in order to preserve them from Britain’s temperate climate. One of these sites was within the foundation of the old Palace Cinema on George St. (Currently McDonald’s restaurant). It’s intriguing to think that cinema goers might have seen Boris Karloff’s ‘The Mummy’, with a real-life mummy buried just beneath the carpet and popcorn sweepings. I hope that with this and future projects Hopwas Woods will stay in the minds and dreams of the people. If we ignore our areas of cultural and natural wealth then other uses will be found for them and there’s a possibility that Hopwas Woods could become yet another half-remembered story of something we lost in the past. Unlike the other treasures recently discovered we shouldn’t wait for this one to be lost or buried first to appreciate it. For more information on the stories and history of this beautiful site please visit: Mark Lorenzor’s Tamworth Time Hikes at www.tamowrthtimehikes.wordpress.com and the online interactive event that is Pastorm at www.Pastorm.com. I am also currently in the process of researching for a semi-historical novel based on the area, as well as an article which will hopefully appear in Alan Moore’s alternative magazine Dodgem Logic. More information for both the novel and article will be made available through www.minstral.wordpress.com soon. Hopwas Wood 1940 – 1977 By Guy N Smith (Author) www.guynsmith.com I was born at White Lodge, Lichfield Road, Hopwas, then the home of my grandparents, Mr & Mrs. A. H. Weale, for many years Tamworth’s only photographers. For the next 30 years I lived at the family home, Burnt Hill House, adjacent to the waterworks. Our home adjoined Hopwas Wood, which was to play a major part in my early life. These woodlands have always been a small sporting estate prior to their acquisition by Tarmac in later years. The Woodhouse The Woodhouse was occupied by Mr. Grant, who was both gamekeeper and woodsman. During the war years my father bought our first gundog from him. We relied upon the wood to supplement our meat ration during the war and as a small boy I used to accompany my father on his shooting forays. Eventually the wood was brought by Frank Price (Timber) and then changed hands again around the 1960’s. The Woodhouse was put up for sale at an asking price of £12,000 to include 17 acres of woodland. My father and grandfather wanted to sell their respective family homes and buy this property. However, my mother and grandmother objected on the grounds that they were not going to live in the middle of a wood! George Bryan, of Drayton Manor Park, purchased the Woodhouse and lived there for a few years before selling to Leyton Greener, grandson of the iconic W. W. Greener gun- making dynasty. At that time I had taken over the shooting of Hopwas Wood under the direction of Jackson, Stops and Staff, the land agents. These were memorable years for myself. The Woodhouse was demolished earlier this year. Sacrilege indeed! The original building dated back to the 17th century and should have been preserved. Its demolition was needless; the reason given being that it was dangerous to those who had already severely vandalised it. So what! A beautiful county residence, it deserved restoration. I visited a few years ago. Windows were smashed, tiles had been removed from the roof and, along with interior damage syringes littered the floor. All this could have been prevented. It wasn’t. Why? I have my own suspicions that there were insidious reasons for allowing it to deteriorate to a condition in which the council approved its demolition. The Great Starling War In December 1961 a massive flock of starlings arrived from Eastern Europe. As their winter quarters they chose the dense rhododendrons between the reservoir and the Woodhouse. Mornings and evenings the sky was black as millions of these birds flighted to and from the surrounding fields. In the woods their stench was nauseating and the boughs of the shrubs were weighed down under layers of their droppings. Tamworth Waterworks Committee’s fear was that the water in the underground reservoir would become polluted if the starling’s foulings seeped down into it. So a huge shoot was organized and anybody who owned a shotgun was invited to attend. This battle was arranged to take place from late afternoon until darkness over three days. Cartridges were provided. The shooting was incessant for around 1 ½ hours on each day as the starlings returned to roost in their millions. The army also assisted with exploding rockets.